54 CURIOUS LEAF-CELL. 



We have sometimes plucked a rolled-up lilac or young oak- 

 leaf, expecting to find it tenanted by a leaf-rolling Caterpillar, 

 when, lo ! upon the scroll being opened, out ran a small long- 

 bodied Spider, which, after lining it with silk, had taken pos- 

 session of it as his cell. Structures more spacious, consisting 

 not of one, but of several leaves lined and united by a silken 

 web, serve often for the abodes of various Spiders found in 

 woods and gardens ; but of these, few are so curious and elegant 

 as a single leaf-cell which we have often found on nettles. In 

 this the point and sides of the leaf being turned over so as to 

 meet at the edges, are conjoined with silk, and on carefully 

 forcing up one of the corners of the green triangle, we intrude 

 on the domestic privacy of a maternal Spider, keeping tender 

 watch over her bag or ball of eggs. 



Who has not seen, or is not curious to behold that " lion " 

 of the Polytechnic, the diving-bell ? Now those who for lack of 

 opportunity are among the latter, may see a diving-bell in minia- 

 ture by repairing to the brink of some running stream, canal, 

 or ditch (provided it be not stagnant), in the neighbourhood 

 of London or elsewhere. There they may perceive, shining 

 through the water, a little globe apparently of silver, which 

 surrounds, as with a garment, the body of a Diving Spider. 1 



But it is in the pages of Kirby and Spence that we find 

 the habitations and habits of this amphibious architect most 

 strikingly and pleasantly described. 2 " Her abode (say they) 

 built in water and formed of air, is constructed on philosophic 

 principles, and consists of a subaqueous, yet dry, apartment in 

 which, like a mermaid or a sea-nymph, she resides in comfort. 

 Loose threads,, attached in various directions to the leaves of 

 aquatic plants, form the framework of her chamber. Over 

 these she spreads a transparent (elastic) varnish, like liquid 

 glass, which issues from the middle of her spinners ; next, she 



1 Diving Water-Spider, Argyrontta aquatica. 

 a Introduction to Entomology. 



